Siftproof package and method of making the same



June 25,- 1935.

"r. SCHILDER ET AL SIFTPROOF PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 2Sheets-Sheet '1 Filed Jan. 21, 1933 lNvENToRs THEODORE SCHlLDER GUSTAV'ERLEMANN BY A 1.2 0

Patented June 25, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Theodore Schilder and THE SAME Gustav Erlemann, New

York, N. -Y., assignors to Fred Goat 00., Inc. New York, N.'Y., acorporation of New York Application January 21,1033, Serial so. 052,:

19 Claim.

This invention relates to packages and bags, particularly of theAnderson type, and more particularly to a method of closing the same andof keeping the same in closed condition. y

A popular form of carton for packaging of gelatin and other powderymaterialsis disclosed, for example, in Anderson Patent 1,151,233, issuedAugust 24, 1915. This package comprises an outer carton' havingrectangular walls and receiving and protectively housing an inner bag,the said bag preferably being made of a single rectangular piece ofpaper folded to form a rectangular bottom wall and creased side walls.The open edges of the bag are gathered together and folded sidewardly,the carton preferably being dimensioned so as to hold the gathered edgesin their folded or sidewardly displaced position,

The primary and general object of the present invention is to improve apackage of the Anderson type, and more particularly to improve theclosing and sealing of the bag opening so as to make the same sift-proofand moisture-proof- A further object of our invention is to provide thebag with closing folds so disposed and so directed that they will beheld in sealed relation by the carton. Still another object of ourinvention resides inthe provision of a method for locking together thegathered and folded edges of the bag so as to hold the same in foldedand sealed condition independently of the aid afforded by the carton.Still another object of our invention resides in the provision of amethod for doubly folding the gathered upper portion of the bag, all ina single operation which may be performed by'relatively simple apparatusoperating at extremely high speed. Inasmuch as a considerable number oflayers or thicknesses of paper are gathered together at the upper edgeof a bag of the Anderson type, this gathered portion when folded resultsin relative displacement of the successive layers of paper; and furtherobjects of our invention are to so direct the multiple folds of thematerial that these displacements tend to compensate for one another andare all taken care of before the edges are finally compressed may, ifdesired, involve heating as well as cornpression of the gathered top ofthe bag when the bag is made of wax paper so as to combine theadvantages of a wax seal with the rapidity of operation of a cold seal.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and .5 such other objects as willhereinafter appear, our invention consists in the sift-proof package andthe components thereof, as well as the steps in the method of making thesame, and their relation one to the other as hereinafter are more 10particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined inthe claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bag closed in accordance with ourinvention; 15

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken in the plane of the line 22 in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a bag after filling and before closing thesame;

Fig. 4 is a plan view explanatory of 'the tucking 2o,

operation;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the tucked bag:

Fig. 6 shows the pinching and preliminary folding of the gathered upperportion of the bag;

Fig. 7 illustrates the completion of the folding operation;

Fig. 8 shows the compression and locking of the reversely folded bagtop; and

Fig. 9 is explanatory of the relation of the 30- bag to the protectivecarton in which it is placed. As is well understood by those familiarwith packages of the Anderson type, and as may be found by referencetoAnderson Patent 1,151,233, issued Aug. 24, 1915, this package, which ismost as commonly used for measured quantities of powder gelatin or otherprepared desserts for householduse, comprises an outer carton C in whichthere is protectively housed an inner preferably moisture-proof bag B,as will be evident from 40.

an inspection of Fig. 9. The carton Cis rectangular-walled with oppositeends closed by flaps formed by extensions of the side walls. In Fig. 9one end of the carton has been opened,

the flaps l2 being shown in foreshortened con 4 5.

spection of Figs. 1, 4, and 5, and the upper edges of the bag aregathered together and compressed to close the bag. The practiceheretofore has been to bend or fold the gathered upper portion of thebag sidewardly, as is indicated in the left-hand portion of Fig. 9.Because of the many advantages of this form of package, it has proved tobe popular and has gone into extensive use, but nevertheless the packageis characterized by the disadvantage that the bag is not truly siftproofnor moisture-proof.

In accordance with the present improvement, the gathered upper portionof the bag is doubly folded so as to provide a truly sift-proof closure,and the manner in which this is preferably done will be evident from aninspection of Fig. 1, Fig. 2, or the right-hand portion of Fig. 9showing how the gathered bag material is folded not only sidewardly butalso upwardly and reversely, so that there is both an inner as well asan outer fold line, while both of these folds and particularly the outerfold are kept in closed condition by the relation of the bag to thecarton, the vertical dimension of the carton preferably coinciding withthe vertical dimension of the bag. The outer fold of the bag may furtherbe permanently and securely locked in closed condition independently ofthe support rendered by the surrounding carton by compressing and at thesame time forcibly indenting or, even more preferably, perforating thebag material, as will be evident from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2 ofthe drawings.

Considering the methodof our invention in greater detail, the bag B isshown at an intermediatestage of its manufacture in Fig. 3. At this timethe bag is still open at its top edge l4 and has already been filledwith a. measured charge of material. A series of these bags are movedstep by step along any appropriate guide rail system l6 until theclosing mechanism, schematically indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, is reached.At the station in question a pair of tucker fingers l8 are oscillatedabout a horizontal axis until disposed at opposite ends of the bag, asis' shown in Fig. 4, and are then oscillated toward one another about avertical axis to tuck the ends of the bag inwardly, as is shown by thebroken line positions of the fingers l8 and the broken line condition ofthe bag B. The end plaits or gussets then formed by fingers I8 areclearly evident from an inspection of both Figs. 4 and 5.

Besides the tucking fingers IS, the bag-closing station furthercomprises relatively movable members which may be referred to as theanvil 26, the pincher 22, the folder 24, and the hammer 26. when the bagB reaches the closing station and during the tucking operation, theparts 20, 22, 24, and 26 are all in spaced or retracted position, as isshown in Fig. 5. Immediately upon completion of the tucking operation,the anvil 20 and pincher 22 are relatively moved until the opposed faces23 and 30 thereof clamp or pinch the upper portion of. the bag in themannershown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. In the particular case here shownboth the anvil 26 and the pincher 22 move toward one another and clampthe bag in mid-position, but it will be evident thatvariations of thisarrangement may, if desired, be employed. This operation establishes ameasured height for the closed bag and gathers and clamps the variouslayers of material in the upper portion of the bag together, thematerial 32 above the jaws 20 and 22 bein then available for the furtherclosing operations next described.

The folder slide 24is movable independently of pincher bar 22, but,during the clamping operation shown in Fig. 6, the slide 24 preferablymoves along with pincher bar 22. Immediately after the bag is seized,however, slide 24 moves further than pincher bar 22, thus forcing thegathered upper portion 32 of the bag toward the right or over onto theupper surface of anvil 20. It will be noted, however, that hammer 26,even in its most elevated position, is substantially lower than the topedge of the bag so that it bears against and tends to prevent the upperportion 32. of the bag from being laid over the anvil by the slide 24.Instead, the gathered portion 32 of the bag is folded intermediate thezone clamped by the jaws 20 and 22 and the top edge of the bag, as isclearly shown in Fig. '7, so that in effect the gathered portion 32 ofthe bag is doubly folded, an inner fold 34 being provided at theclamping jaws, and an outer fold 36 being provided by the folder slide24.

The timing of the machine is so regulated that folder slide 24 is thenretracted and at the same time hammer 26 descends and compresses thereversely folded bag materials and clamps the same under extremely highpressure, the condition of the parts then being indicated in Fig. 8. Inorder to securely lock the bag in closed condition we prefer to providethe anvil 20and hammer 26 with hardened inserts 38 and 46 the opposingfaces of which are provided with staggered rows of mating teeth 42.These teeth engage the reversely folded gathered bag material, and thepressure exerted between hammer 26 and anvil 20 is preferably madesufficiently great so that the teeth not only indent the material but,further, actually penetrate partially through the multiple layers of bagmaterial, thereby locking the same tightly together. The parts 20, 22,2a, and 26 are then retracted to the position shown in Fig. 5,"therebyreleasing the bag for movement to a later station where the bag isloaded into the surrounding carton C. At this time the bag is in thecondition shown in Fig. l where the indentations or perforations 44,produced by the teeth 42, are clearly evident. It should be understoodthat the bag as thus closed is preferably sift-proof. The fact thatpowder may conceivably pass between the indentations 44 is of noconsequence because the primary function of the indentations orperforations 44 is to hold the fold 36 in tightly closed condition, andthis fold alone is ample to effectively prevent any sifting of thepowder out of the bag. It is particularly effective because the initialor inner fold 44 is alone sufiicient to greatly minimize any attemptedsifting of material from the bag, so that the operation of the outerfold 36 is of a safety or extraprecautionary nature. At this point itmay be mentioned that the mating faces of the pincher jaws 20 and 22 arepreferably arranged at a substantial angle or bias, as is clearlyevident from an inspection of Figs. 5, 6, '7, and 8, so that the upperportion of the bag is folded at an acute rather than merely a rightangle, thereby insuring extra tightness and extra sharpness of the innerfold 34. This bias of the surfaces 23 and 30 may, however, beinterrupted or straightened out for a very slight distance at the upper,edges of the jaws in order not to injure the paper of the bag and inorder to minimize any tendency of the jaws to slide one below the other.

The paper out of which the bag is made is ordinarily a waxed paper, andthe closure of the bag may be made additionally effective andmoisture-proof by heating the same to increase the adherence of thelaminations of paper. For this purpose the hammer 26 preferably hasincorporated therein an electrical heating or resistance unit energizedthrough flexible leads 50. Of course, heating may alonebe relied upon tohold the folded edges of the bag in closed condition, thus dispensingwith the indentations or perforations 44, but our experience shows thatfor the production of an effective seal in this manner the heating mustbe continued over a substantial period of time, whereas a cold closure,such as is produced by the use of the indentations or perforations 44,does not necessitate any delay or dwell in the machine. With the presentprocess the bags may be closed at the rate of sixty per minute, forexample, representing a clamping period which is wholly inadequate toobtain a dependable hot sealing of the bag. We therefore prefer to usethe cold closure method shown, but may and sometimes do additionallyemploy heating to improve the seal obtained by reason of the slightfusion and adherence of wax obtained despite the rapid speed at whichour process is preferably practiced. It will further be appreciated thatthe anvil 20 or/and the pincher bar 22 may be heated in addition to orin lieuof the hammer 26.

While we have termed the compression member 26 a hammer, it should beunderstood that it need. not operate percussively, but that, on thecontrary, it may be and preferably is operated by a positive clampingpressure which is applied gradually instead of percussively. In effect,the multiple layers at the upper portion of the bag are squeezedtogether under extremely high pressure, which mutilates the bag in amanner difiicult to illustrate although some idea of the finishedcondition of the bag may be obtained by an inspection of the sectionshown in Fig. 2.

The closed bag shown in Fig. 1 is next loaded into a surrounding carton,and the vertical dimension of this carton is preferably made equal tothe height of the closed bag, so that the bag assumes a position in thecarton somewhat as is illustrated in the right-hand portion of Fig. 9.With this arrangement it will be evident that the top of the cartonholds the bag in closed condition, and in fact we find that surprisinglydependable results may be obtained when placing reliance solely upon thecarton for keeping the bag closed. This is true because the reversefold-' ing of the bag to form the outer fold 36 is upwardly, rather thandownwardly, so that the tendency of the bag within the carton is to keepthe fold 36 tightly closed rather than to let the same open. At the sametime, the inner fold 34 is also kept closed. The double thickness of thereversely folded bag material causes the inner fold 34 to be kept atsomewhat acute rather than obtuse an angle which is desirable for atight seal. At the same time, no opening of the outer fold 36 takesplace by reason of relative displacement of the layers of material,first; be-

cause the initial fold given the bag at 34 is an acute rather than asimple right-angle; and secondly, because the reversely bent material islocked together by the perforations or indentations, and tends tooscillate as a permanent and solid unit about the fold 34.

It is believed that the package of our invention and particularly thebag closure, as well as the method of producing the same, will beapparent fromthe foregoing detailed description. It' will also beappreciated that the present package is, far superior to that heretoforeemployed be cause it is made truly sift-proof by being doubly folded.The perforations or indentations are effective despite possible passageof powder therebetween because their primary function is merely to holdthe reversely bent upper portion of the bag in tightly folded condition.The particular manner in which the double fold is obtained, the top edgeof the bag being bent upwardly and reversely rather than downwardly andreversely, is also characterized by a number of important advantages. Inthe first place, the double fold may be obtained by a single operationwith relatively simple apparatus at a single closing station, and theclosing operation may be performed exceedingly rapidly. In the secondplace, relative displacement of the layers of paper is taken care ofwhen the bag is closed in a single operation, in contrast, for example,with the use of successive operations, for with the latter an outer sealor fold may be opened and entirely spoiled by the subsequentproductionof an inner fold by reason of the latter causing a relative displacementof the different layers of material at the outer fold. Thirdly, therelative displacements of the inner and outer folds take place inopposite directions and therefore tend to compensate for one another, sothat in the completed bag the edges of the paper are substantiallycoincident, as is shown in Fig. 2. This feature is important 'whendealing with a bag of the Anderson type in which many layers of materialare gathered together at the top of. the bag, because a considerablethickness or bulk of material is involved and successive bends in thesame direction tend to cause an extreme shortening of the outer layersrelative to the inner layers of paper. Fourthly, an upwardly reversedfold, in contrast with a downwardly reversed fold, causes the carton tohold the fold in sealed condition. Fifthly, the securely locked outerfold which we produce is so dependable that the closed upper portion ofthe bag may be oscillated about the inner fold without opening the outerfold, and consequently the bag and carton may be so relativelydimensioned that the carton will tend to hold even the inner fold of thebag closed-in addition to holding the outer fold of theb'ag closed.Sixthly, a dependable and permanent closure is obtained by a coldprocess which permits the utmost rapidity of operation. However, whendealing with a waxed paper it is additionally possible to heat theclosing apparatus so as to obtain some melting and additional sealingbetween the layers of paper. This seal is effective despite the shorttime of application of heat because it need not be great enoughto holdthe parts in mechanically adherent relation since the parts are reallyheld in the desired structural relation by the perforations orindentations as well as by the carton, so that no stress is applied tothe waxed surfaces which might disturb an initially produced cohesion.Seventhly, both the inner and outer folds are produced while holding thebag in a generally upright condition so that any powder clinging to thesides of the bag following the filling operation tends to be dislodgedand to fall downwardly into the bag during the closing operation.Conversely, when the bag is opened by the consumer the upper portiontends to open into a vertical condition rather than a curled-overcondition, and consequently any powder which may sift into the upperpart of the bag during shipment tends to fall back into the bag when thebag is opened. Another advan-.- tage of the present process resides inthe fact that already existing machines of the Anderson type may bemodified to adopt the new process, and this is an important featurebecause a large number of such machines are already in current use.

The 'multilation of the bag by the knurled surfaces will be referred toas indentations or perforations", because a combination of both isproduced. The teeth compress the paper so hard that the outer layers areactually perforated. although the inner ones may be merely indented. Theperforations are not clean-punched lioles but instead are flanged bylips of inwardly struck paper which are forced through the holes in thenext inner layers of paper, and so on, so that the multiple layers arewell locked together. The locked bag top may be bent about fold 34without opening, hence a tight fit in the carton is permissible, asshown at the right side of Fig. 9. It is not necessary to leaveclearance above the bag top to produce an obtuse angle, as shown at theleft side of Fig. 9.

The paper for the bag need not be wax paper, but if other moisture-proofpapers are used it may be desirable not to use heat at all. Even withwax paper the use of heat is-unimportant.

It will be apparent that while we have shown and described our improvedbag and package as well as the method of making the same in preferredforms, many changes and modifications may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A finished bag, the said bag in finished state having bottom and-sidewalls, the top of said bag being gathered and folded with a double fold,the inner fold bringing the gathered material in a generally horizontalplane, and the outer fold causing the outer portion of the gatheredmaterial to be bent back upon itself, the thus folded gathered materialbeing secured together and the outer fold locked by a series ofindentations or perforations in the reversely folded material.

2. A finished bag, the said bag in finished state of the type shown inAnderson Patent 1,151,233, said bag having many thicknesses of paper atits mouth or top, the top of said bag being gathered and folded with adouble fold the inner fold bringing the gathered material in a generallyhorizontal plane, and the outer fold causing the outer portion of thegathered material to be bent back upon itself, the thus folded gatheredmaterial being secured together and the outer 101d lockedby a series ofindentations or perforations in the reversely folded material.

3. A finished bad, the said bag in finished state having bottom and sidewalls, the material at the top of the bag being gathered together andbent at an inner fold to extend in a generally horizontal direction, theouter extremity of the gathered material being bent reverseLv on top ofthe horizontally extending material to form an outer fold.

4; A finished bag, the said bag in finished state having bottom and sidewalls, the material at the top of the bag being gathered together andbent at an inner fold to extend in a generally horizontal direction, theouter extremity of the gathered materal being bent reversely on top ofthe horizontally extending material to form an outer fold, the.superimposed layers of gathered material being secured together to makethe bag sift proof.

5. A finished bag, the said bag in finished state having bottom and sidewalls, the material at the top of the bag being gathered together andbent .at an inner fold to extend in a generally horibent reversely ontop of the horizontally extending material to form an outer fold, thesuperimposed horizontal layers of gathered material being securedtogether by means of the wax of the waxed paper.

7. A finished bag of the type shown in Anderson Patent 1,151,233, saidbag having many thlcknesses of paper at its mouth or top, the layers ofmaterial at the top of the bag being gathered together and bent at aninner fold to extend in a generally horizontal direction, the outerextremity of the gathered material being bent reversely on top of thehorizontally extending material' to form an outer fold, the superimposedlayers of gathered material being locked together by a series ofperforations or indentations in the reversely folded material.

8. A package comprising a carton and a bag carried therewithin, said baghaving bottom and side walls, the top ofthe bag being gathered togetherand bent horizontally at an inner fold, and the horizontally extendingmaterial being upwardly and reversely bent to form an outer fold. thecarton being dimensioned in a vertical direction to -just receive thebag with its folded top, whereby the bag is held in closed condition bythe carton.

9. A package comprising a carton and a bag carried therewithin, said baghaving bottom and side walls; the top of the bag being gathered togetherand bent horizontally at an inner fold, and the horizontally extendingmaterial being upwardly and reversely bent to form an outer fold, thethus superimposed layers of gathered material being locked together tomake the bag sift proof, the carton being dimensioned at its bottom toreceive the bottom of the bag and being dimensioned in a verticaldirection to just receive the bag with its doubly folded top, wherebythe bag is held in closed condition by the carton.

10. A package of the general type shown in Anderson Patent 1,151,233,comprising a carton and a bag carried'therewithin, the top of the bagbeing gathered together and bent horizontally at an inner fold, and thehorizontally extending material being upwardly and reverselv bent toform an outer fold, the thus superimposed layers of gathered materialbeing locked together by a series of perforations or indentations in thegathered material, the carton being dimensioned at its bottom to fit thebottom wall of the bag and being dimensioned in a vertical direction tojust receive the bag with its .doubly folded top, whereby both the outerand inner folds of the bag are held in closed condition by the top ofthe carton.

11. Themethodofclosingabagofthegeneral 7i type shown in Anderson Patent1,151,233, which includes tucking the side walls to gather the upperportion of the bag, folding the gathered upper portion of the bagsidewardly in order to reversely bend the same to form two oppositelydirected folds, and finally locking the reversely bent gathered.edgeswhile in horizontal position by perforating or indenting the sameunder high pressure. I

12. The method of closing a bag of the general type shown in AndersonPatent 1,151,233, which includes tucking the side walls, pinching thebag at a point a substantial distance below the top edge of the bag,thereafter simultaneously folding the gathered upper portion of the bagsidewardly and reversely, and compressing the reversely benthorizontally disposed gathered edges.

13. The method of closing a bag which includes tucking the side walls,pinching the bag at a point a substantial distance below the top edge ofthe bag, at a point intermediate the top edge and the pinched portion ofthe bag, folding the gathered upper portion of the bag sidewardly inorder to reversely bend the same, and finally locking the reversely bentgathered edges by perforating or indenting the same to one another butnot to'the bag body. I

14. The method of closing a bag which includes tucking the side wallsand pinching the bag at a point a substantial distance below the topedge of the bag, thereafter folding the gathered upper portion of thebag sidewardly at a point intermediate the top edge and the pinchedportion of the bag in order to reversely bend the gathered portion ofthe bag, and finally sealing the horizontally disposed reversely bentgathered edges,

by heating and compressing the same in horizontal position. I

15. The method of closing a bag of the general type shown in AndersonPatent 1,151,233, which Y indenting the same.

16. The method of closing a bag which includes tucking the side wallsand pinching the bag at a point a substantial distance below the topedge of the bag, supporting the gathered top edge of the bag againstsideward movement, thereafter pushing the gathered portion of the bagsidewardly at a point intermediate the top and pinched portions of thebag in order to reversely bend the gathered portion of the bag, andfinally compressing the reversely bent gathered edges in horizontalposition.

17. The method of closing a bag of the general type shown in AndersonPatent 1,151,233, and of retaining the same in closed condition, whichincludes tucking the side walls, pinching the bag at a point asubstantial distance below the top edge of the bag, thereaftersimultaneously folding the gathered upper portion of the bag sidewardlyand reversely, compressing thereversely bent gathered edges, placing thethus closed bag in a carton the height of which is so dimensioned as tokeep the reverse fold of the bag in closed condition, and closing thecarton.

18. The method of closing a bag and of retaining the same in closedcondition, which includes tucking the side walls, pinching the bag at apoint a substantial distance below the top edge of the bag, thereafterfolding the gathered upper portion of the bag sidewardly at a pointintermediate the top edge and the pinched portion of the bag in order toreversely bend the gathered portion of the bag, compressing thereversely bent gathered edges, placing the thus closed bag in a cartonthe height of which is so dimensioned as to keep the reverse fold of thebag in closed condition, and closing the carton.

19. 'The method of closing a bag of the general type shown in AndersonPatent 1,151,233, and of retaining the same in closed condition, whichincludes tucking the side walls, pinching the bag at a point asubstantial distance below the top edge of thebag, thereafter foldingthe gathered upper portion of the bag sidewardly at a point intermediatethe top edge and the pinched portion of the bag in order to reverselybend the gathered portion of the bag, locking the reversely bentgathered edges by perforating or indenting the same, placing the thusclosed min a carton the height of which is so dimensioned as to keep thetop folds of the bag in closed condition, and closing the carton.

GUSTAV ERLEHANN.

